Hail damage keeping insurance agents, contractors busy

Tuesday

The recent uptick in hail falling with thunderstorms through the area has caused damage to hundreds of homes in the area, according to local insurance agents and contractors.

There have been four hail events created by thunderstorms in the area since May, caused by updrafts in a thunderstorm that push water droplets higher in the atmosphere. The hail stones then freeze and fall to the ground once they become too heavy for the updraft to hold up.

According to the National Weather Service in Des Moines, it isn’t uncommon to see several hailstorms in Iowa during the transition period between spring and summer. Between 1955 and 2016, just under half of the recorded hailstorms with stones measuring 1 inch or greater occurred in May and June, with the other half coming from the other 10 months combined.

It’s unclear exactly how much monetary damage hailstorms have caused in recent weeks. Keith Morgan, director of the Story County Emergency Management Agency, said law enforcement didn’t collect damage figures because the hail didn’t cause damage that could threaten people or building integrity.

“During those time-frames, the main damage reports were downed tree branches blocking roads,” he said. “We just were not hearing a lot of windows being knocked out of buildings or siding being taken off of buildings.”

Tim Severson, owner of Severson Insurance Company, said he has received about 125 claims for hail damage in the past month or so, mostly for damages to houses. He estimates the average cost runs between $8,000 to $12,000, depending on the value of the building and what was damaged.

He said the area hasn’t seen many storms in the past few years that caused hail damage because they tended to break up before reaching Ames. This year, the storms appear to be tracking in a different pattern, Severson said.

“We’ve definitely seen an increase in hail claims that we haven’t seen in a couple of years,” he said.

Severson said the claims have been concentrated mostly on houses rather than cars. Roofs, window cracks, screens and gutters took the crux of the damage so far, he said.

Nate Ante, owner of Waddle Exteriors in Story City, said his company has received hundreds of calls in the past month to inspect homes for hail damage in northwest Ames, Nevada, Huxley and other cities, filling up the appointment schedules for the company’s full-time staff.

“We’ve been working pretty much 80-plus hours ever since the hail hit,” he said.

Ante said it’s possible past storms created less-solid hail that don’t cause as much damage as clear, completely solid stones when they strike buildings.

Hail causes other problems for farmers, as they can bruise and pierce crops in the field and potentially lower yields. Iowa State agronomist Angie Rieck-Hinz said there has been minor, scattered hail damage in central Iowa, with some heavier damage found in eastern Dallas County.

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